Minerals, Vol. 15, Pages 307: Crystal Chemistry, High-Pressure Behavior, Water Content, and Thermal Stability of Natural Spodumene

Minerals doi: 10.3390/min15030307

Authors:
Yuhui Jiang
Jiayi Yu
Yuanze Ouyang
Li Zhang
Xiaoguang Li
Zhuoran Zhang
Yunxuan Li

Spodumene (LiAlSi2O6) is a member of pyroxene-group minerals. It has the highest theoretical lithium abundance among all of the Li-bearing minerals. In the present work, in situ high-pressure Raman spectroscopic investigation of natural spodumene have been conducted up to 19.04 GPa. Unheated spodumene and spodumene recovered after heat treatments (up to 1000 °C) have also been analyzed by X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy. The results indicate that spodumene, after the displacive C2/c–P21/c transformation triggered at ~3.2 GPa, remains stable at pressures up to 19 GPa at ambient temperature without undergoing decomposition, amorphization, or a second phase transition. The major OH bands of the spodumene samples are observed within the wavenumber range of 2580–3220 cm−1, implying a strong hydrogen bond interaction. The water content of the spodumene is estimated to be 19–97 ppm wt. H2O based on the integrated absorption area of the OH bands. The FTIR analysis of the spodumene samples recovered after heat treatments implies that spodumene can retain a significant amount of water (up to ~100 ppm H2O by weight) under high-temperature conditions up to 1000 °C. This suggests that spodumene in subducted slabs is unlikely to undergo dehydration at temperatures below 1000 °C, and is therefore not expected to trigger partial melting. Thus, spodumene may serve as a key carrier for Li, transporting it into the deep mantle without releasing Li into melts during subduction.

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